A toll system or process of the type specified above, is known from DE 43 44 433 A1. In the known process, current position coordinates are determined from a GPS receiver and compared with entrance/exit coordinates of a highway section stored in an internal electronic vignette. If these coordinates agree, they are transmitted by means of the digital mobile network to a billing center external to the vehicle. In the billing center, the number of kilometers of highway driven and the highway fee due from that are calculated.
WO 95/20801 discloses a process and an arrangement for determining use fees for traffic routes and/or traffic areas in which the position data of the vehicle are determined by a position determination system and compared with the positions of virtual toll sites. The position data can be transmitted to a central site external to the vehicle, whereby the fees for the vehicle can also be calculated in a toll device in the vehicle and the fees determined can be transmitted to the central site, where they can be deducted from an account. A major disadvantage of this process is that the vehicle position must be determined continuously and there is no possibility of an anonymous debiting.
WO 99/33027 describes a process for levying tolls, in which the current position of the vehicle is compared with the position of a virtual toll site to calculate tolls, such that when a vehicle passes through a physical toll station, a communication connection is made between the vehicle and a central toll control site to pay the tolls due. After a successful payment transaction a communications link is set up between the toll station and the vehicle, through which a receipt for the proper payment of the fee is transmitted.
It is a disadvantage of the known process that its accuracy is relatively poor in determining whether there has been an entry onto a toll road section, as only passage through a point is registered.
It is, therefore, an objective of the invention to overcome the disadvantage of the state of the art specified above.